As hard as he’d tried, he hadn’t been able to unearth the smallest speck of dirt on his elusive masked Spanish lady—except for what her brother had handed him on a platter.
And now, she was his. All his.
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said with a quick smile. “I believe it would be best if you went home now. I’ll talk to you in the morning about your instructions.”
“Instructions?” A spark of fire burned in her eyes.
“As to your new duties, of course. You haven’t held an EA role before so I don’t expect you to fall immediately into place. And then, of course, there are your extracurricular duties to discuss as well.”
A tremor ran through her body. Was it revulsion? He doubted it. Not after the way she’d reacted to him during that all too brief kiss a few minutes ago and especially not after he’d seen the fire leap to life in her eyes as he’d traced the soft fullness of her lower lip with only a fingertip. With her response being so instinctive, so honest, he knew the next few weeks, even months, would undoubtedly be as pleasurable as he’d anticipated from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
He took a step toward her and tried to tamp down the disappointment he felt when he saw her flinch. Sure, he knew she’d be reluctant. What woman wouldn’t under these circumstances? But he had her exactly where he needed her and she couldn’t run away.
“I don’t need to remind you that this matter between us is completely confidential. Of course there will be questions when news of our ‘engagement’ leaks out, but I’m hoping we can keep them under control if we keep our stories straight.”
“Jason and I share our home. I have to tell him, at least.”
“I’d prefer you didn’t. Obviously I can’t stop you two from discussing the accusations against him, but the more people who know our engagement is a sham the more likely it is to be exposed.”
“Don’t you understand? Jason and I live together. I can’t hide the truth from him.”
“Then you’ll have to convince him that you’re doing this for love.”
“Believe me, he won’t have any trouble with that. He knows I love him.”
“No. Not him. Me.”
To his surprise, a throaty laugh bubbled from her. As delectable as the sound was, the reason behind it wasn’t. He bristled, going on the defensive.
“Is that so very hard to believe?” he pressed. “Don’t you think you’ll be able to act with credibility?”
“No, please, you misunderstand me.” She sobered instantly, the moment of hysteria passed even though traces of moisture still lingered in the corners of her eyes. “You don’t know me or you wouldn’t ever have suggested we could fake our engagement. I don’t go out, I …”
Her hesitation hung in the air between them.
“Yes, you … ?”
She threw her hands up, gesturing to herself. “Well, look at me. I’m hardly the kind of woman you’d go out with under normal circumstances, am I? I don’t move in your circles, I’m … I’m me.” She shrugged her shoulders dramatically, as if that was sufficient explanation for everything.
“Do you want to see who I see when I look at you, Margaret?”
He kept his voice steady and pitched low. Her nervous movements stilled at his tone and he saw her brace herself, physically and mentally, for whatever it was that he had to say.
“I see a woman who hides her true self from the world. Someone who has a deep inner beauty to match the exterior. Someone who would go so far as to sacrifice her own happiness for that of a loved one. I see a woman who doesn’t realize the extent of her own potential, at work or in play. And I see a woman I am very much looking forward to getting to know, intimately.”
The flush that spread up her throat and across her cheeks was as intriguing as it was enticing. Was she really so innocent that she blushed at his suggestion? She hadn’t thought this fake engagement was going to be purely for appearances, did she? There had to be fringe benefits—for them both.
“So you’re going to force me to have sex with you, too, are you?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
“Oh, no,” William replied. “I won’t have to force you at all.”
Margaret was still shaking when she made it to her car in the back row of the staff car park. She shoved her key in the door and gave it the customary wiggle she needed to do before turning it and opening the door. She clambered inside and put her key in the ignition. Since her car had been stolen a year ago, both the door lock and the new ignition barrel hadn’t been quite in sync with the key. She’d been lucky that when the car was recovered a few miles from home that it was still drivable. One of Jason’s friends, an auto mechanic, had done the minor repair work for her at cost. It hadn’t been the same since then, though. One day it would let her down, but hopefully not any day too soon.
She rested her head on the steering wheel. It wasn’t the only thing that wasn’t the same anymore. How could she look at Jason now without worrying about whether he was getting himself into trouble again? No matter what William Tanner had dictated, she would tell Jason the truth about their arrangement. Provided he agreed to be sworn to secrecy, that is.
Maggie wasn’t looking forward to what kind of state he’d be in when he got home after the disciplinary panel today, but she knew he wouldn’t be happy with her “engagement.” With a sigh, she straightened in her seat, started up the car and headed for home. She might find some answers there, or at least some solace in being surrounded by their parents’ things.
Grief lanced through her with a sharp, searing pain. Ten years since the accident that had taken both their lives and it still hurt as much as it had when the police had come to the door to give them the news. Where would they be now, she wondered, if her parents hadn’t died that day?
She shook her head. There was no point in dwelling on the past. The present, that was what mattered. Making every day count. Meeting the obligations she’d shouldered when she’d made the decision to forgo college and focus on raising Jason alone. At eighteen to his fourteen it had been a monumental decision—one she’d frequently questioned as she’d faced each new trial. But the Cole family had never been quitters. They stuck to their own, through thick and thin. No matter the cost.
By the time Jason arrived home, an hour later than usual, her nerves were tied in knots. The sound of his key being shoved in the front door, followed by the heavy slam as it closed, did not augur well for a rational discussion.
“Are you okay?” she asked as he came through to the kitchen where she was reheating last night’s Bolognese sauce and meatballs.
“It’s un-freaking-believable,” he said. “I’ve been accused of stealing, but not quite enough that they’re going to take my job from me. I’m on some kind of big-brother probation.”
“I know,” she said, struggling to keep her voice calm.
“You know? And you didn’t think to tell me? Give me any prior warning?”
His voice was filled with confusion and accusation. Inside,
